JOACHIM RAFF : Symphony No. 7 "In Den Alpen" · Concert Overture, Op. 123 (Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra (Košice) · Urs Schneider) (1994) Two Version | FLAC (image+.tracks+.cue), lossless

Raff completed his seventh symphony in 1875 and it was first performed in Wiesbaden on 30 December in the same year. The symphony, In the Alps, makes use of themes he had heard in his childhood in Switzerland. The work was not well received in Germany, with critics now tending to condemn perceived defects in his work as a result of “Vielschreiberei”, writing too much. These aspersions on his ability as a composer, apparently because of his fecundity, brought additional doubts and anxieties at a time when he was troubled by the recent death of his mother in Ravensburg.

Symphony No. 7 in B flat major, Opus 201, is scored for full orchestra, pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and trumpets, four horns, three trombones, timpani and triangle, and strings. It is a descriptive work, evoking the Swiss Alps of Raff’s early years, and the first movement, Wanderung im Hochgebirge, “Wandering in the High Mountains”, starts with impressive grandeur, then turning in its slow introduction to suggestions of the natural beauty of the landscape, as the horns echo each other. The music is dominated by a familiar melody that returns to end the introduction and will be heard again. The principal theme of the Allegro appears first in the bassoon, followed by the flute. A gentler Alpine melody is entrusted to the horn, followed by the oboe, and this and other thematic material is developed with all the craft at Raff’s disposal, with much use of sequence, before the re-appearance of the principal subject in recapitulation, followed by the themes of the second subject group and a fugal treatment of the main theme of the introduction. The second movement, In der Herberge, “In the Inn”, opens in G minor with a gently lilting theme introduced by the strings, joined by bassoons, with a yodelling cello melody in accompaniment, as the music swells into a major key German dance. There is a modulation into C major and a romantic melody introduced by the violas. Clarinets and flutes sport on the slopes in a cheerful E flat, before the return of the G minor theme of the opening, moving forward to a happier triumphant G major before a G minor coda. There follows a slow movement, Am See, “On the Lake”, with a tranquil C major theme given to violas and bassoon, before emerging from the depths with flutes, oboes and horns adding to the picture, to which the timpani add an occasional menacing dimension. The symphony ends with Beim Schwingfest; Abschied, “At the Festival; Departure”. The Schwingfest is a peculiarly Swiss sport for festival days. Here contestants try to throw each other, using the left hand, with the right hand in the belt. The music represents the sport with cheerful lightheartedness. The first theme is followed by a clod-hopping heavy-footed measure from the bass instruments. The dotted rhythms of a fiercer G minor episode usher in contrapuntal treatment of earlier themes, reminiscences even of the opening of the symphony, before a triumphant and very Swiss conclusion to a work that is further testimony to the technical proficiency of Raff and to his creativity as a symphonist.

Raff completed his F major Concert Overture in 1862 and published it with a dedication to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Constantin zu Hohenzollern-Hechingen in respectful gratitude. At this period Raff was very much in Wagner’s circle at Biebrich, and his sister-in-law, Emilie Genast, gave the first performance of Wagner’s settings of poems by his beloved Mathilde Wesendonck in the year of the Concert Overture. The work is scored for the usual full orchestra and opens, as overtures should, with a strong call to the listener’s attention, followed by a gentler theme, developed before a more energetic section that continues the material of the opening into a lyrical subsidiary theme. The later treatment of the themes includes contrapuntal display, with the whole overture an example of the composer’s assured technique in handling the orchestra and in the creation of a convincing, unified and effective structure from his material. Keith Anderson

Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
1-4. Symphony No. 7 In B Flat Major, Op. 201 "In Den Alpen"
5. Concert Overture In F Major, Op. 123    9:57
Credits :
Orchestra : Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Košice
Conductor – Urs Schneider
Cover [Painting - The Black Monk and the Bernese Alps] – Ferdinand Hodler